The Mysteries of Brambly Hollow

be the culprit? But what about the flies? He couldn’t possibly be responsible for them. She sighed deeply.

Chapter 21

    “ You’d best let PC Holster know about Quassi,” was Cal’s greeting when Meli joined him in the kitchen. Lifting his mug he took a quick slurp of tea before tipping the remains down the sink and dumping the mug in a bowl of greasy water, left over from the previous evening’s washing up. “If they do find out who this Finn is, then it wouldn’t be fair to have him accused of trespassing if it wasn’t him.”
    “Do we have to do that straight away?” Meli spoke in a garbled voice, a clear sign that she thought he was much too hasty in accepting the explanation offered on the glittering platter, which might yet prove to be made of fools gold and last nights, or rather, this mornings, alcoholic beverage. “Can’t we wait a couple of days, just to be sure?”
    Her response glanced off his ‘everything is sorted now’ exterior, like a sword off armour. “Yes, we should do it as soon as possible. We don’t want to be accused of wasting police time. You saw Quassi with your own eyes. There can’t be any doubt now can there? And at least we won’t have to change the lock now. All we have to do is remember to remove the key.” He ruffled her hair as he passed.
    What argument could she put up? Everything he said was true, but? Well, it just didn’t seem to sit right. When no response was forthcoming, he paused to glance back at her, waiting for those magic words which would confirm that she was in total agreement. “I suppose,” the words were pulled from her mouth with the force of a dentist extracting an impacted wisdom tooth. To Cal, it was all so easy, so simple now; so blasted logical - but she wasn’t so easily convinced. Satisfied with her response, he sauntered across to the mirror, and humming merrily he stooped down slightly and straightened his tie in the reflection. Moments later he had gone.
    Meli’s thoughts scurried around like tumble weed in the wind. She hadn’t slept well after they clambered back into bed, and she was exhausted. She was still troubled about the way she had had to extricate the information from the boys, and about their discomfort when being questioned by the police as part of their investigation. Meli wondered who else would be involved in this? PC Holster would undoubtedly visit the kennels to look for clues as to who this Finn might be and where he could be found. And what about Elsa? Would he need to speak to her too? She sipped the cup of tea Cal had left her, but it had gone cold now. Rising to her feet she tipped it down the sink where it swirled around with the dredges of Cal’s.
    She inhaled deeply, trying to replenish the stale oxygen in her brain that might be the beginnings of a headache. Thinking about it all logically - oh how she was coming to hate that word - if Quassi was totally responsible for all the mysterious events, then Finn hadn’t done anything wrong. All she could really object to was that he had given the twins some mice, and had put a dead squirrel on the kitchen table. Hardly hanging offences. Reluctantly, she conceded that in all probability, Cal could be right. It was wrong to let the police hunt him down if he was innocent. Reaching up she pinched tired eyes. She would phone the police later, and then take the kids out for the day, for a treat, to make up for yesterday. She also planned to watch Quassi like a hawk. If he was taking things, surely they could catch him in the act? Maybe she could give the boys that job, a bit of investigating, they’d like that.
    As for her? Well, there was nothing to stop her adding Finn to her own ongoing enquiries. She liked that idea. Low key, but it would ease her worries.
    Meli worked in the studio until ten, and then woke the boys. “Come on, we’re going out, if you lazy things can get up.”
    “Where?” asked a sleepy David, raising his head from his pillow and blinking at her when she pulled back the curtains and blinded him with brilliant sunshine.
    “Where would you like to go?” Meli asked, propping herself beside him on his bed. David was sitting up now.
    “We could go to the beach in Exmouth, where there’s some sand.”
    “Well, get dressed and have breakfast, then we can be off.”
    Leaving them to it, Meli knocked on Cassie’s door, to see if she would like to go. Not surprisingly, Cassie declined, as she already had plans. While the boys were